Design and Implementation of a Laboratory Prototype for Boolean Function Simplification in Real Time

Abstract

The aim of this study is to develop a three-variable Karnaugh-Map (K-MAP) in hardware. K-MAPs are extensively used in digital logic design for simplifying Boolean expressions. Here, we automate the process of Boolean expression simplification by designing a K-MAP hardware circuit, that can show the simplified expression in real-time. The hardware is comprised of input, combinatory, comparator, and output units. The input unit accepts minterms from the DIP switches. These minterms are processed in combinatory unit against all the possible combinations of boxes in power-of-two. The output from the boxes with higher power-of-two is kept in the comparator unit and the result is displayed on LEDs in the output unit. The proposed hardware design can be used in a classroom setting to teach the concepts of Boolean function simplification and verify the practice problems.